1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to data processing devices and more particularly to data processing devices having memory devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transistors of a data processing device can exhibit variations in their electrical characteristics resulting from the device manufacturing process. These variations can affect the behavior of the data processing device. If the electrical behavior of a transistor is outside a tolerated range, a portion of the data processing device may fail to meet the stated performance specifications. For example, a bit cell of a memory device can be designed to operate correctly up to a specified six-sigma variation in the threshold voltage of the bit cell pass-gate transistor. If the threshold voltage varies more than this specified amount, electrical current conducted by the pass-gate during a read operation may be insufficient to achieve a specified access speed.
In order to reduce the likelihood of such memory device failure, the memory device can include redundant structures such as extra bit cells. When a portion of the memory device is defective, the memory device can be reconfigured wherein the defective portion is isolated and a redundant structure is substituted for the defective portion. Unfortunately, redundant structures consume considerable physical area and thus increase the cost of the data processing device.